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U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR

After Barely Making Match-Play Cut, 17-Year-Old Finds Herself Back In Semifinals
July 22, 2010
By David Shefter, USGA

Village of Pinehurst, N.C. – As she watched the scores trickle late Tuesday
afternoon, Doris Chen started to feel a bit uneasy.

Would she be in or out?

A 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior semifinalist, Chen wasn’t quite ready to leave the
steamy confines of The Country Club of North Carolina.

Chen had struggled during the stroke-play qualifying portion of the 62nd U.S.
Girls’ Junior Championship, shooting 79-77 without a single birdie.

I feel like I was riding a rollercoaster, said the 17-year-old Chen, who was
born in New York, but owns dual citizenship between the United States and Chinese Taipei. I was
saying please just make it. And I’m so happy.

Fortunately, the cutline came at 157, sparring Chen from the playoff for the
final spots.

Given new life and another opportunity to play the Dogwood Course, the
Bradenton, Fla., resident – she attends the Pendleton School – has epitomized what can happen in
match play.

Playing as the No. 57 seed, Chen has managed four consecutive victories,
including a gut-wrenching 1-up decision Friday morning over stroke-play medalist Danielle Kang
of Thousand Oaks, Calif.

But even after disposing one of the championship’s hottest golfers, Chen walked
off the par-5 18th hole looking as if she lost. She would fit quite well at the poker table.

It comes from my first coaches, said Chen, who has verbally committed to attend
the University of Southern

Medalist Danielle Kang was impressed with how methodical and steady
Doris Chen performed in Friday's quarterfinal match. (John Mummert/USGA)

California in the fall of 2011. They told me to have a poker face. Always keep it the same,
whether you play bad or good. That’s just the way I am.

That inner calm suited Chen well early against Kang. Twice she missed birdie
putts inside 6 feet. And yet there was no emotion. Not one shrug of the shoulder or primal
scream.

She doesn’t make a mistake, said the 17-year-old Kang, who made the cut at this
year’s U.S. Women’s Open. She’s just very impressive.

Chen also is leaning on her experience from last year at Trump National Golf
Club, where she fell to the hot putter of Kimberly Kim in the semifinals. She’s also gained a
little more strength over the last year, forcing a switch from graphite to steel shafts in her
irons.

I just play my game, said Chen. If I lose one hole, I just don’t care. Last
year, I played well, but I j ust didn’t drop any putts. And Kimberly made everything. There’s
really not that much more difference from last year. Just more experience.

That maturity paid off down the stretch as Kang tried to push the match to
extra holes. She holed a 15-footer for birdie at 17, only to see Chen match from just inside
her. At the par-5 18th, Chen coolly laid up to a comfortable yardage for her third shot. Her
approach stopped 30 feet short of the flagstick, while Kang reached a bunker 20 yards short of
the green in two. Chen comfortably lagged her birdie attempt to a foot, forcing Kang to hole her
25-footer, which came up short and to the left.

The two players hugged and Chen stoically walked off.

It’s a familiar position. Korean Gyeol Park awaits her in Friday afternoon’s
semifinals, with the victor advancing to the 36-hole championship match on Saturday.

On July 13 at The Wanderers Club in Wellington, Fla., Chen shot a 73 in a U.S.
Women’s Amateur qualifier. Amazingly, it was one stroke short of making the field. On that day,
the scoreboard was not kind.

But if she beats Park, she won’t need to worry about playing the Women’s
Amateur in two weeks at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club.

With the Girls’ Junior finalists exempt into the field, a victory assures her a
spot.

DavidShefteris a USGA communications staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments atdshefter@usga.org.